Observations Is an honest discussion about offender rehabilitation programs possible? The collective data indicate that programs for offenders either don’t work, or make things worse, or have very limited results. If we support offender rehabilitation, we need to question current results. We need to demand better answers. If we don’t, nothing will change. Author Leonard […]

Observations I’m suggesting that we focus almost exclusively on mental health and the co-occurring issue of substance abuse. With budget limitations, we can’t be all things to all people. Are we at the point where we need to completely rethink our approach to programs for offenders? Little will happen until we stabilize people in need. […]

Observation Most of the data is not encouraging, indicating that we have a long way to go as to effective offender rehabilitation and reentry. Author Leonard Adam Sipes, Jr. Thirty-five years of speaking for national and state criminal justice agencies. Interviewed multiple times by every national news outlet. Former Senior Specialist for Crime Prevention for […]

Observations The probation population from 2005 to 2015 included more active cases when they were supposed to decline due to diversions. Treatment doesn’t exist beyond 1 percent. Caseloads grew more challenging with more felonies and more violent offenders. Author Leonard Adam Sipes, Jr. Thirty-five years of speaking for national and state criminal justice agencies. Former […]

Observations Offenders will not change until they are personally ready for change. Major events like parenthood, a job or treatment seemed to have little impact unless the offender was ready for change. Parole was not only a failed deterrent for many, but it was a direct impediment to successful reentry. Author Leonard A. Sipes, Jr. […]

Subtitles: A briefing paper on crime related topics for President-elect Trump, and everyone else. Author By Leonard A. Sipes, Jr. Thirty-five years of supervising public affairs for national and state criminal justice agencies. Former Senior Specialist for Crime Prevention for the Department of Justice’s clearinghouse. Former Director of Information Management for the National Crime Prevention Council. […]

Subtitles: Are we playing a game of meaningless gestures? Is Ban the Box pointless? Is voting a hollow gesture? Offenders, criminals or justice-involved individuals; are labels important? Author By Leonard A. Sipes, Jr. Thirty-five years of speaking for national and state criminal justice agencies. Former Senior Specialist for Crime Prevention for the Department of Justice’s […]

From Crime in America.Net: A new report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) provides insight into the nature and scope of substance use and mental illness issues affecting America. The report shows that 24.6 million Americans aged 12 or older were current (past month) illicit drug users – 9.4 percent of […]

This report presents the first information from the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), an annual survey sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Illicit Drug Use In 2012, an estimated 23.9 million Americans aged 12 or older were current (past month) illicit drug users, meaning they had used […]

Crime in America.Net Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic. Powered by WP Greet Box WordPress Plugin Updated late December, 2010. Gentlereaders: Please see another update from our previous “What Works in Corrections” where we attempt to provide an overview of […]

Crime in America.Net Updated winter of 2010. Two new programs added regarding jobs for offenders (great data as to what works) and properly classifying high risk offenders and adding programs. Shows long range reductions in recidivism. Gentlereaders: Please see another update from our previous “What Works in Corrections” where we attempt to provide an overview of […]

Gentlereaders: Please see an update from our previous “What Works in Corrections” where we attempt to provide an overview of evidence-based corrections programs. This article summarizes data as to the effectiveness of correctional programs regarding reductions in recidivism (returns to the criminal justice system via arrest, prosecution or incarceration). Note that most states define recidivism […]

Dear readers: The study continues a long line of research stating that substance abuse treatment works to reduce recidivism. Unfortunately, it’s in the same unreadable style the academic community loves to create but it does contain a valuable overview of previous substance abuse literature. The results were modest but effective. Crime in America.Net The Minnesota […]

Pain Reliever Abuse– More Than Fourfold Percentage Increase of U.S. Treatment Admissions The percentage of admissions to state-funded substance abuse treatment programs involving pain reliever abuse increased from 2.2% in 1998 to 9.8% in 2008, according to recently released data from the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS). While increases were seen across all age groups, […]

Newsweek offers a compelling article stating that “Treatment for drug addiction works better and costs less than imprisonment alone. So why are states abandoning it?” “Of the 2.3 million inmates in the U.S., more than half have a history of substance abuse and addiction. Not all those inmates are imprisoned on drug-related charges (although drug […]

Chief Lawrence Battiste of the Mobile Police Department in Alabama sadly reports the death of Officer Justin Billa. Officer Billa was shot and killed as he and another officer attempted to contact and apprehend a murder suspect. Officers received a call of a woman lying in the street. They determined the victim had been murdered... […]

The Texas Board of Pardon and Paroles yesterday unanimously recommended clemency for Thomas Bartlett Whitaker, the first time in a decade the BPP has recommended against a death sentence. Whitaker orchestrated the murder of his family and his father, the only surviving victim, has been campaigning to save him from the death chamber. I mention […]

Calling illegal-gun trafficking “contagious,” a Chicago researcher says that despite his city's strict gun control, someone who wants to use a weapon to commit a crime can easily obtain one using social media or other networks on the underground market.

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam (R) is a national leader in leveraging evidence-based policies to sustain the state’s strong fiscal position, foster economic growth, and improve government efficiency. Over the governor’s seven years in office, he has created jobs, tripled Tennessee’s rainy day fund, decreased the state’s debt, and invested in education. This year, Gov....

States send less than half as many youth to residential facilities as they did in the late 1990s, but new data from the Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention show that many juveniles in out-of-home placements were not confined for serious and violent crimes. In 2015, 23 percent of youth in […]

After peaking in 2008, the nation’s imprisonment rate fell 11 percent over eight years, reaching its lowest level since 1997, according to an analysis of new federal statistics by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Thousands of communities and families across the country are still reeling from 2017—one of the most destructive and expensive years on record for natural disasters. Coastal and inland floods inundated a broad swath of the country—from California to Texas and Missouri to Florida—damaging homes, roads, and bridges, and closing many institutions, including schools.

This ongoing, occasional series features interviews with a variety of influential leaders who discuss how they became involved in criminal justice reform, how their views have evolved—sometimes in unexpected ways—and what’s needed to sustain progress.

The courts have found that the Met failed in its civic duty to serve victims of a heinous crime. As a society we will have to confront the role of the victim in the post-sentencing process tooThere is no doubt that the Metropolitan police committed terrible errors in their handling the case of John Worboys, […]

An off-duty Prince George’s County police officer was shot and killed Wednesday morning while helping a woman next door in an incident of domestic violence, the department’s police chief said. Cpl. Mujahid Ramzziddin, a 14-year veteran of the department, was fatally shot by a man with a shotgun...

Democrats are poised to reject three Republican bills to loosen restrictions on guns Wednesday as the national debate about firearms following last week’s high school shooting in south Florida has forcefully made its way into Colorado and the state legislature.

Each case demonstrates how the tools used to fight crime and measure crime trends in the United States are outdated. Even as certain kinds of crimes are declining, others are increasing — yet because so many occur online and have no geographic borders ...

The Dunwoody Police Department is currently looking for Laverne Harold Squires, age 79, a Dunwoody Resident. Squires is suffering from Alzheimers. He was last seen leaving his residence at approximately 4:30PM on Friday. He left in ...